(The writer is a PhD student at the University of Oxford and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He has also worked as a civil servant in Pakistan) Two Pakistanis waited for their Uber ride thousands of miles away from home in New York City. This was inarguably one of the most forgettable moments in their lives. Yet, this same moment was about to acquire unparalleled significance. As my friend and…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
The writer holds the degree in engineering from NED University The Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan is passing through a perilous period of attention and scorn. There is a relentless campaign by religious extremists, who are bent on harassing and targeting Ahmadis. This is not a new phenomenon for the Ahmadiyya Community, however, in the recent past this drive has intensified many fold. I am pleased that this newspaper, Daily Times, has covered many such incidents…
Book review by Ahmad Faruqui in Daily Times, September 9, 2018 Title: Pakistan at the Helm Author: Tilak Devasher Tilak Devasher has written an evaluation of all the major leaders, beginning with Jinnah and concluding with Musharraf. Some Pakistanis may approach the book, Pakistan: At the Helm with apprehension since the author was a cabinet secretary in India. They will be pleased to find out that his assessment contains no rancor or ill will. Devasher…
By Salman Siddiqui in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2018 KARACHI: The share of Pakistan-based Islamic banks in global Shariah-compliant banking assets stands at a meagre 1%, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday. Islamic banks in Pakistan own assets worth Rs2.48 trillion ($19.93 billion) as of June 2018, which comes close to 1% of the global Islamic banks’ assets of $2.05 trillion by the end of 2017, the SBP said. The…
US aid cut : edit in Dawn, September 3rd, 2018 The US has delivered an object lesson in how not to conduct diplomacy.Mere days ahead of a short visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pakistan, the US Department of Defence has announced a permanent aid cut to Pakistan of $300m. The move has surely been coordinated across the Trump administration and now what remains to be seen is if Secretary Pompeo will…
MANY who listened to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s maiden speech on Aug 19 would not have failed to note the striking similarities in his address and the Quaid-i-Azam’s oft-quoted speech of Aug 11, 1947. That’s not really surprising, given that Khan described Jinnah as his role model, one who practised politics with a mission. Both speeches expressed deep concern at the prevalence of corruption and the absence of justice for the poor. They also spoke…
The writer, a Strategic and Political analyst, teaches international politics in NUML Islamabad Currently the world is sharply divided over how to define ‘Islamists’. Different schools of thought have their own meanings for this word. According to some, Islamists are fundamentalists who want to impose a system of Islamic laws on Muslim and non-Muslim populations alike. Others define Islamists as individuals who believe in having an Islamic system of governance in the country but wish…
by Ayesha Siddiqa in Daily Times, August 30th 2018 The writer is a research associate at SOAS South Asia Institute It was just a few days ago that the new Foreign Minister (FM), Shah Mehmood Qureshi aggressively laid claim to taking ownership of foreign policy making. Watching him thump his fist on the dice, I so much wanted him to read legal cases in which parentage is contested between the biological and foster parents. In…
The writer is executive director, Justice Project Pakistan. IRAN’S Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is coming to Islamabad. Naturally, important conversations will take place. Words, handshakes and stories will be exchanged. Congratulations for Prime Minister Imran Khan will be in order. And Mr Khan, too, must congratulate Iran for achieving something extraordinary. In August 2017, Iran’s parliament approved a bill that amended its drug-trafficking laws to curtail the application of the death penalty to drug offenders.…
by Ahmad Faruqui in Daily Times, August 21st 2018. In his novel, The Golden Legend, Nadeem Aslam has written a searing commentary on the state of Christians in Pakistan. According to Wiki, he was born in Gujranwala and moved with his father to the UK when he was 14. His father, a communist, fled Zia’s regime and settled in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. After studying biochemistry at the University of Manchester, Aslam switched to writing novels.…
Pak SC rejects govt plea against JuD ‘welfare work’
by Syed Sabeehul Hussnain in The Nation, Sept 13, 2018 ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed the federal government’s plea against the Lahore High Court order, which allowed the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and its subsidiary Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) to continue their welfare activities. JuD’s network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to…